PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- The newly installed president of Ingalls Shipbuilding gave on Thursday what may have been his first public address since stepping into the top management position.

Now with about two months under his belt, Brian Cuccias delivered the keynote speech at the Jackson County Economic Development Foundation's spring investors meeting, a forum held to take stock of the region's progress in business and economic development.

Cuccias, a Mississippi-native who attended high school in Biloxi, was promoted last year after Irwin Edenzon stepped down. In March 2014, he formally took the reins.

Cuccias' speech -- although mostly scripted -- outlined the vast number of ships under construction at Ingalls' facilities along the Gulf Coast, a portfolio of vessels that range from aircraft carriers to U.S. Coast Guard cutters.

Close to half of their employees in the state work in Jackson County.

After graduating from the University of South Alabama, Cuccias worked a financial analyst, eventually landing in the maritime industry. He worked at Avondale Industries until it merged with Huntington Ingalls.

"For those of us who have followed his career over the past 35 years it certainly came as no surprise when the time came for a transition of leadership, Brian Cuccias' leadership, his performance," said Jerry St. Pé, a former president of Ingalls.

"I guess it can be revealed now that the strategy behind the Avondale acquisition was not to get its assets, but to get Brian Cuccias," St. Pé said.

Cuccias shot down the comments, saying "those remarks (were) way over played."

"It truly is an honor and a privilege to lead a company with a true rich legacy as Ingalls shipbuilding," Cuccias said.

"But what what must be recognized is that state and local institutions like Jackson County Economic Development Foundation have played a critical role in our success as well."

Today Ingalls is the largest supplier of surface combatants for the U.S. Navy, building about 70 percent of its fleet.

The shipyard was able to escape cuts to programs when the U.S. House of Representatives passed a version of a defense spending bill earlier this month, including funds for a 12th amphibious LPD ship and two DDG-51 destroyers.